Greece!

I can't say enough how much I loved our Greece experience! This was a group trip of 19 that focused on me and Tony's 25th Wedding Anniversary in 2025. We spent 3 nights in Athens & Santorini and 2 nights in Crete. Below are highlights of each location. The blog is fairly long but its because we did so muchh during the 8 nights we were there! The Itenirary included many group activities as well as optionals that people could add such as the food, bike and ATV tours.

Athens

Our trip started in Athens where we spent 3 nights. During our stay, we did a Athens city tour, food walking tour, bike tour and had a anniversary group celebration. There was a welcome reception for the group at the Elia Ermou hotel where we stayed. It was a boutique hotel that had a rooftop restuarant and onsite spa. It was located off the main shopping/restuarant district which made it easy for us to explore the surrounding area. Athens restaurants are open late so we found ourselves out late on several of the nights.

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Elia Ermou Hotel

The city tour was great! We had a private tour guide for the Acropolis and got to see many of the sites in Athens, including the Olympic Stadium. Then tour was first thing in the morning to avoidn the heat and the crowds as we went at the end of May/early June. It was a half day tour so we had the rest of the afternoon to enjoy the city on our own. I didn't get a chance to visit any of the musuems but would like to on a future visit.

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Tour of the Acropolis

I LOVE food tours! The one in Athens did not disappoint. Of all the tours I've been on, this one had the most food of any. By the end I was so fun that I started saying no! Our tour guide was amazing, great personality and shared a lot about the area. I would definitely recommend it if you are in Athens.

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As I mentioned earlier, this trip was to celebrate our 25th year wedding annivesary. We held a group dinner celebration at the rooftop restaurant of the Elia Ermou. We had a family style meal with a variety of appetizers, salads and desserts. The main dishes were prechosen from a list of options. The food was delicious and the views from the rooftop of the Acroplolis were amazing!

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Santorini

After leaving Athens, we headed to Santorini for 3 nights! We hit the ground moving, not wanting to waste a moment. After being picked up form the airport, we started our tour of the island. Our first stop was Oia to arrive before the cruise ship passengers. I have to say it was beautiful but extremely hot!. There was something about the narrow alley ways and whit walls that seemed to radiate the heat. It got more crowded the later it got so we obtained our photos, got some gelato and then headed out to the other side of the island. We had lunch on the top of the mountain, offering wonderful views. We then went to a winery and participated in a wine tasting with spectacular views of the ocean. It was a packed day but so worth it!

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We stayed at the Splendour Resort. It was on top of the hill and offered amazing views. The rooms were extremely spacious which we loved. Everyone had a different room type as the resort offered jacuzzi's and private pools as upgrades. There was a breakfast buffet included in our rate which had a good variety of food options. We enjoyed the pool bar that had good snacks - the burger was the best and awesome drinks! We hung out there everyday. The resort was also within walking distance to many shops and restaurants. My only complaint was that some of the rooms had odors that emilated from the bathrooms. Its a older resort so the plumbing may require updating.

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You can't visit Greece without visiting the beach! We went to the black sand beach on Santorini. The location we went provided beach loungers and umbrellas as long as you met a minimum dollar requirement on food and drinks. It was easy to meet the minimum. We had a nice relaxing afternoon soaking up the sun!

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One of the highlights of our stay on Santorini was the boat ride we took on a pirate ship! We cruised the caldera and visited the crater top. We hiked the crater. Some in the group went higher than others! The views were beautiful. We then cruised to a hot springs area. The catch was we had to get in really COLD water to get to the warm but some of us braved it! LOL. We had lunch on the cruise which was really good. The group was also introduced to the game Farkle which quickly became a favorite pasttime. It was definitely worth going down a super scary winding road to get to the port!

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Crete

After leaving Santorini, we headed to Crete. Crete is a large island with more of a major city feel. We stayed at the Galaxy hotel that felt very American but the rooms were a smaller than the ones in Santorini. We had dinner that first night at a pizza place right next door. It was really good. They even thru in dessert for us!

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During our stay, we did a Food Experience Activity that included a walking city tour. For the food experience, we had the opportunity to prep a Greek meal. We learned about some of the traditional Greek dishes. After we completed the prep, we walked around the city while they cooked the dishes. Crete is a great city. We went up to the top of the city walls to see the entire city. We then walked thru the shopping aisles picking up various souvenirs. After having lunch, we walked down to the shore. It was a great day!

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If I had to sum up our Greek experience in one word, it would be "Fabolous"!! It was an amazing time. I enjoyed our tour guides, the activities we did, the food and most of all, we had an amazing group!

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